Are Villain Deaths a Result of Luck?

This essay is written to comment on some villain deaths that were the result of luck, and why the villain should have won.

Tsarmina Greeneye's death

In the final battle, Tsarmina is shown to be a proficient fighter, as she struck Martin down twice. With near-fatal injuries, the severity of which should have prevented him from fighting, even with the aid of Bloodwrath, he forced Tsarmina into the deep end of the lake, where the wildcat queen was finished.Given the flow of this battle, it makes it obvious that Tsarmina should have won. The twist ending to the battle and the classic "hero-was-dead-but-got-revived-and-killed-the-baddie" act makes this ending grossly cliché.

Gabool the Wild

Gabool the Wild was renowned as a proficient fighter, as well as Rawnblade Widestripe, so the outcome of their battle (minus the scorpion-hurling maneuver) will remain unknown. Rawnblade was dazed from his fall into the pit, and Skrabblag would have killed him, had it not been for the unexpected help of the spirit of Martin. This really wasn't fair, and this is also a classic example of the hero being saved by the bell. (No allusion to Cluny's death.)

Zwilt the Shade

As this book was meant to be the culmination to the Redwall series, tragic moment(s) are expected to make the book more enriching. I found a severe dearth of tragedy in a culminating novel such as this. When Zwilt checkmates Buckler with Dubdub, this would have been a good moment to show tragedy, yet the bravery of Buckler. However, the cliché moment of "saved by the bell" manifested itself yet again.